“The iPhone 5S and 5C arrived last month to a record-smashing first weekend of sales – 9 million were sold, with the iPhone 5S proving more popular than the less-expensive 5C. I was among those waiting in line for the new iPhone before dawn on Sept. 20 — specifically the top-end 5S model,” Michael deAgonia writes for Computerworld. “As a technology writer, getting the more expensive 5S made sense for me. But is the new iPhone 5S worth it for the less tech-centric?”
“It took a little while for me to get used to Touch ID, as I’ve been swiping to unlock my phone for years. Now all I do is hold a thumb or finger on the Home button while Touch ID invisibly reads my fingerprint. After depressing the Home button to turn on the display, the print is recognized, the Lock Screen is automatically bypassed, and the Home screen icons swoop into view. Compared to swiping the screen to unlock and entering a passcode, Touch ID feels like telepathy,” deAgonia writes. “If Touch ID is the most obvious change externally, the biggest change internally is the new A7 processor. It’s a dual-core chip that’s up to twice as fast as the A6 used in the iPhone 5, according to Apple. And it’s 64-bit, which means it works very well in combination with iOS 7, which is now a 64-bit OS. (The built-in apps in iOS 7 are also 64-bit.)”
“Even without 64-bit apps, performance gains are noticeable in daily use, even in simple things like browsing the operating system. There’s a fluid smoothness to the way apps launch, emails are deleted and animations are displayed that’s not as obvious when using iOS 7 on older devices,” deAgonia writes. “Clearly, the iPhone 5S is an improvement over the iPhone 5 in every facet. Now that I’ve used an iPhone with Touch ID I can’t imagine not having it. After growing accustomed to the picture quality taken by the 5S, I’d rather use its camera (with dual-tone flash and slow-motion video). After a year with the reliable iPhone 5, I prefer the iPhone 5S because the 5S improves an already great experience.”
Much more in the full review here.
Related articles:
Apple takes the high-end with their 64-bit A7; leaves rivals to scrap for survival in low-end – October 2, 2013
Apple’s 64-bit A7 is no gimmick: New iPhone 5s offers major performance leap – September 25, 2013
Ars Technica: Apple’s Touch ID and 64-bit A7 are deceptively large advances in the iPhone’s evolution – September 24, 2013
Apple iPhone 5s reviews are universally positive, many crown iPhone 5s the best smartphone – September 19, 2013
Engadget reviews Apple iPhone 5c: A breath of fresh air that will be wildly popular this holiday season – September 18, 2013
Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 5s is by far the fastest smartphone in the world – September 18, 2013
John Gruber reviews Apple iPhone 5s: ‘This is what innovation, real innovation, looks like’ – September 18, 2013
AnandTech reviews iPhone 5s: Apple’s 64-bit A7 is seriously impressive – September 18, 2013
TechCrunch reviews Apple iPhone 5s: The best smartphone available – September 18, 2013
USA Today’s Baig reviews Apple iPhone 5s: ‘Makes the best smartphone even better’ – September 18, 2013
Mossberg reviews Apple iPhone 5s: ‘The best smartphone on the market’ – September 18, 2013
“fluid smoothness” – Would those words ever be used to describe a Samsuck device other than to describe the flushing of the toilet when the owner realizes what a piece of shit it is?
I gave Minka Kelly a smooth operator experience on her anodised aluminium box.
That would be fluid swirlness
Funny that this guy calls the colour of the phone “smoke gray”.
Thanks for calling that out; fixed now.
The success of the 5s launch appears to have quietened the hordes of Apple-haters. Its an odd phenomenon though. Here you have the most successful, innovative, corporation in the history of the world – a poster boy for everything good about America, at a time when everything else about America looks pretty grim. And yet large swathes of Americans say, and write, incredibly nasty things about them.
For the most part, criticism of Apple is ill-founded but it is pervasive. It seems to me that most, if not all, of this criticism stems from individuals who either cannot afford to buy an Apple product; or desperately need to stand out from the crowd and can’t bring themselves to buy Apple.
Another curiosity is seen amongst those Americans who continue to buy Samsung phones, in the knowledge that Samsung (and Google) stole Apple’s IP. You would think that Americans would be outraged that a Korean outfit would steal American know-how and sell it back to Americans. And yet many Americans are unbothered by this.
I put this down to the collapse of ethics. Today’s American is motivated by self interest. Ethical values don’t come into it. Samsung phones are akin to a stolen device bought on a street corner. Buying one is tantamount to condoning theft. It doesn’t seem to occur to most people that a lack of concern about dishonesty just encourages more of it. Inevitably everyone suffers as a result.
Perhaps if Americans “just said no” to dishonesty life in rhe United States might return to some semblance of order.